


My Name's Angelica Schuyler

by MusicReject



Series: Unlawful One Shots [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Adoption, Angelica's backstory, Angst with a Happy Ending, Children, Fluff, Gen, Minor Character Deaths, Murder, Unlawful AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-10-07 10:27:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10358286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicReject/pseuds/MusicReject
Summary: That was the first time Angelica heard the words "hate crime". It would not be the last.





	

**Author's Note:**

> TRIGGER WARNING!  
> Contains mentions of hate crimes, murder, and funerals. The murder and hate crime is very brief (will bold), but the funeral is about two paragraphs and will be bolded. Read with caution. Stay safe <3

Angelica Johnson was born in a small town 30 minutes west of Mobile, Alabama. Born in 1942, she youngest child of the pastor of the local church and a weekend singer in the city. Her parents were attentive and loving, making sure their children knew that they were the most important things in their lives. She was close with her siblings, they were all fairly close in age, and with her grandmother who lived two streets down. She had a wonderful first few years of life, full of love and life and it was beautiful. It was a cold night in 1945 when it came crashing down.

Her parents liked to have a date night every few weeks. A night where they would focus on themselves and their marriage, where Angelica’s grandmother would babysit and they’d stay up late with sweets before crashing at ten. A few days after Angelica’s third birthday, her parents were having a date night.

“Be good for Grandma, sweetie,” her mother said, kneeling on the rough carpet in front of Angelica.

“Always, momma,” she responded with a grin.

Her mother smiled and poked her nose, “what time will we be back?”

“Eleven!”

Her father kneeled down next to her mom and said, “and what time are you supposed to be in bed?”

“Eight!” she shouted, the grin never leaving her face. Her parents leaned in and kissed her cheeks, a bright giggle spilling into the room.

When her parents made their way outside, the siblings gathered by the open door and waved frantically as they drove away. Their grandmother ushered them back inside and they crowded in the small kitchen to ‘help’ make dinner.

 

When midnight rolled around and her parents will still not home, her grandmother paced the living room and Angelica sat at the top of the stairs, knowing she was supposed to be asleep. The clock slowly ticked to one and her parents were still not home. When the hand landed on the number one, there was a heavy knock on the door and her grandmother ran to door, throwing it open. Angelica heard her breath catch in her throat when caught sight of who stood on the other side.

Angelica stood and slowly made her way down the stairs, avoiding the parts that creaked, until she could see who stood in the doorway. Two men in dark blue stood on the door step, badges over the hearts and the same badge on the front of the hat they were. ‘Papa said those men are supposed to protect us,’ Angelica thinks to herself as she steps down one more step so she can see properly.

The man closest to her grandmother says, “I’m sorry to bother you so late, ma’am, but do you know,” he pulls out a pad of paper and reads, “a Renée Elise Goldsberry or an Alexis Johnson?”

She nods, “Renée’s my daughter. Alexis’s my son-in-law. Did something happen, officer?”

He puts the paper back in his pocket and looks up at her, “you may want to be sitting down.”

She nods slowly and gestures for the officers to follow her to the living room, the officer with the brown hair closing the door behind him before following. The living room is next to the staircase and her grandmother’s back is turned to the stairs as she faces the officers. Angelica leans against the bannister and she listens to what’s about to happen, her heart racing in her chest.

The blond officer removes his hat and holds it to his chest, “I’m sorry, Mrs…”

“Just call me Betty,” she responds slowly.

**He nods and starts again, “I’m sorry, Betty. We found your daughter and son-in-law’s bodies outside town hall around eleven thirty.”**

**Angelica sees her grandmother’s shoulders shake before she hears the sobs, “No, you have the wrong people. I… I don’t…I can’t believe you. “**

**The blond officer carefully reaches into his pocket and removes two cards, a small gray photograph on each one, handing them over to her. Her hands shakes as she takes them and her sobs reach a louder volume, “how did this happen?”**

**The brunette clears his throat and removes his hat, “we have to reason to believe the murder was a hate crime.” He looks up and his eyes widen as he sees Angelica standing on the stair case.**

Her grandmother looks up and whips around, her mouth falling open as her eyes land on her youngest granddaughter, “Angelica… what are you doing awake?”

Her skin heats up at being caught, “waiting for momma and papa.” Her dark eyes scan the room, the officers shrinking into their uniforms as the child’s eyes land on them, “are they home?”

Her grandmother stands shakily and walks over to her, gesturing for her to come down the stairs. Angelica carefully walks down the stairs and stands in front of her, her grandmother lifts her up and rests her on her hip, “no, Angie. They aren’t home.”

She nods, “where are they?”

The tears pour down her grandmother’s cheeks, “they aren’t coming home, sweetie.”

Angelica frowns, tears pooling in her eyes, “they mad at me?”

She shakes her head quickly, “no, no sweetie, they aren’t mad at you. They love… loved you very much.” She looks back at the police men, “stay here, officers, please. Let me put my granddaughter to bed.” At their nods, she walks up the stairs to the bedroom and slowly pushes the door open. She walks over to the bed and pulls back the covers, laying Angelica down next to her brother Benjamin. She pulls the covers over and presses a kiss to her forehead, “sleep, Angelica. Everything will be better in the morning.”

“Mama and papa come back?” she asks, a yawn overtaking her question.

Instead of responding, her grandmother places another kiss to her forehead and leaves the room, pulling the door shut behind her.

That was the first time Angelica heard the words “hate crime”. It would not be the last.

 

**The funeral’s the following week and the only thing Angelica knows is that it means her parents are never coming home. The top of the box is closed and she doesn’t understand why she couldn’t see them again; her grandmother said they didn’t look how she remembers them. She cries as her brother and sister hold her hands and they watch as the box holding their parents gets lowered into the ground. Everyone in the town is there, holding each other up and offering condolences to the Johnson children who nod in near silence.**

**The crowd sits in the church basement afterwards, surrounded by food and tears, and Brielle grasps Angelica’s hand tightly in hers. They only get up when their grandmother comes to get them when people start leaving, saying it’s time to go home and sleep. Angelica just nods and lets her sister pull her to the car, silence filling the vehicle as they go home.**

 

Two weeks pass as Angelica’s grandmother struggles to take care of three children full time. Three children who are missing their parents, having nightmares every night about a dark monster coming to them away. Having nightmares about a shadow that drags their parents from their hands and they can’t stop it. During the day, people are constantly coming over to offer their help to the family. The family who is just trying to get through the day.

One day, three weeks following the funeral, a soft knock sounds on the door. Angelica walks over and reaches for the knob, pulling the heavy door open to face two people standing in front of the door.

“Hello,” the man with a kind smile says. “May we come in?”

Her grandmother rushes to the door and says, “Angelica! What did I tell you about opening the door?” She waves her away and looks back at the couple, a smile spreading across her lips, “Mr. and Mrs. Schuyler, come in.” She steps aside so they can walk in and closes the door behind them. She guides them to the sofa, “can I get you anything?”

“Betty, dear, sit down,” the woman says with a smile.

Betty nods and sits down in the chair, leaning forward slightly, “was everything okay on your way over?”

The man nods, “absolutely. I was already in Mobile for a short visit for work, coming here was no trouble.”

Mrs. Schuyler places a hand on her husband’s arm and sends a sad smile to Betty, “how have you been after Renée and Alexis? How are their children? After I got the news about Renée,” she shakes her head, ”she was a dear friend for some time. Distance has a dreadful habit of tearing friendships apart.”

Betty nods and takes a deep breath, “things are not great. I wanted to talk to you about the children.”

Mr. Schuyler sits up straighter, “what’s going on?”

Mrs. Schuyler leans forward, “is everything okay?”

Betty shakes her head, “no, it’s not. Are you still looking to adopt?”

“Betty, we can’t adopt three children,” the man says with a sad frown.

“Not three. One of Renée’s old friends already offered to take in Benjamin and Brielle. Just Angelica,” she responds shakily. “I hadn’t gotten the chance to tell Renée before,” her voice cracks, “before everything happened but… I’m dying.” Mrs. Schuyler gasps at Betty’s words but she pushes on, “I’m dying and I know you can give Angelica a better life in New York than what I could give her here.”

At Betty’s words, Catherine’s eyes grow impossibly warmer and softer and, when Philip glances over, he knows that Catherine’s mind has already been made up. She meets his gaze and his mind is made up in that second, so he says, “if it’s okay with her… we’ll do it.”

Betty breathes a sigh of relief and stands up, “Angelica, come here!”

There’s a sound of pounding feet and the youngest Johnson appears in the doorway. Her grandmother gestures her into the room and says, “this is Mr. and Mrs. Schuyler, come meet them.”

She walks into the room and stands in front of them, “hello.”

Mr. Schuyler stands from the sofa and kneels down in front of her, “hello. I’m Philip.” He gestures to the woman who knelt down next to him, “this is my wife, Catherine.”

“Hello Angelica,” she greets with a sunshine smile. “It’s wonderful to meet you.”

“Could we talk to you?” Philip asks.

“Actually,” Catherine says, glancing at Betty and receiving a quick nod, “do you want to go for ice cream?”

Angelica perks up at ice cream and quickly nods, “yes please!”

“Go grab your jacket and shoes, sweetie,” her grandmother says.

Angelica grins and runs to the shared bedroom, slipping on her jacket and picking up her shoes from the floor. She runs back down the stairs and shoves her feet into her shoes, “ready!”

When the Schuyler’s stand, Angelica holds out her hand, “safety.”

Catherine laughs and slips her hand into Angelica’s smaller one, “safety.”

Except, when they get to the ice cream parlor, they can’t bring themselves to tell Angelica yet. They bask in her smile and laughter, not wanting to risk running that away. So they eat ice cream together, taking turns reminding Angelica to wipe her mouth and laughing as she smears the ice cream around her face. They walk back to the house and when they get there, Betty asks if they asked Angelica.

Philip shakes his head and, at the look on her face, says, “I think we’re going to stick around for a few weeks. Let Angelica know she can trust us before asking, so we’re not asking her to live with complete strangers.”

With Betty’s blessing, that’s exactly what they do. They take Angelica to lunch or dinner, sometimes both on the days they can’t bring themselves to stay away for so long. They take her to the park and push her on swings. Catherine sits with her at Betty’s while Philip works, and braids her hair, plays with her and the dolls Angelica thrusts into her hand. They get her ready for bed and read to her some nights, when Betty’s declining health doesn’t permit her to climb the rickety stairs.

When the few weeks are up and Philip absolutely has to return to New York, they take Angelica back to the ice cream parlor they went to the first day to break the news.

When Angelica’s halfway through her ice cream, Philip sets his spoon down and says, “Angie…we need to talk to you about something.”

She looks up and sets her spoon down, “kay.”

“We have to go back home tomorrow,” he says slowly.

Tears fill Angelica’s eyes, “leaving?”

Catherine nods and places her hand over Angelica’s, tears filling her own eyes when Angelica rips her hand away, “we loved being with you for these weeks.”

“Why leave?” she asks, tears slipping down her cheeks.

“Because… because…” Catherine struggles to come up with what she wants to say, what will make sense to the three year old in front of them.

“Come with us,” Philip blurts out.

“What?” Angelica asks, startled, she knows they live far away.

He takes a deep calming breath, “we want you to come live with us.”

“In New York,” Catherine supplies.

“New York?” the toddler asks.

“Do you know where that is?” Philip asks. At the shake of her head, he gets up and walks to the counter, softly asking if they have a map of the country. When they hand it over, he walks back to the table and lays the open map in front of Angelica. He puts to the state and says, “this is New York.” He points to Alabama, “we’re here.”

Angelica places a finger on the map and runs her finger between the two states, “so far,” she whispers.

“We have a big house and a lot of land so you’ll have plenty of room to run and play,” Philip continues, carefully watching her reaction.

“But…” she trails off, thinking. “What about my home?”

“Well, if you agree, that will be your home,” Catherine supplies.

“Do I get a bedroom?”

Catherine nods rapidly, “you get your own bedroom that you can pick out and decorate yourself.”

“A dog?”

Philip nods immediately, “you can pick and name them.” They fall into silence for a few moments before Philip says, “so, what do you say? Want to become a Schuyler?”

“Angelica Schuyler,” she says softly to herself. She looks up at them and nods, “okay.”

 

~13 years later~

“Angie!” Eliza shouts from the bottom of the staircase, hands cupped around her mouth, “mom and dad are back! Come on!”

Angelica looks up from the gray photograph in her hand, “coming!” She looks back down at the photo and whispers, “they’re amazing, mama and papa. I love them so much. I love you.” She slips the photo into the bottom of one of her desk drawers and runs down the staircase, throwing her arms around Eliza and Peggy when she gets there.

“What were you doing up there?” Peggy asks, wrapping an arm around her waist.

“Reading,” she replies before pressing kisses to her sister’s cheeks, laughter ringing out into the foyer.

**Author's Note:**

> I have nothing against Alabama at all! I'm so sorry if that offended anyone!  
> Also, yes, I made Renee Angelica's mom and used the actual people as her birth family. I'm very sorry if that offended anyone! Alexis Johnson is Renee's husband, and Benjamin and Brielle are her actual kids. I'm really bad at coming up with names and thought it would be interesting to use the real people. I respect Renee and her family immensely and meant no disrespect or harm by using their names.  
> So, this is Angelica's backstory and how she can was adopted by the Schuyler's in the Unlawful AU! If you haven't read that yet, I'd recommend doing so!  
> I hope you all have a wonderful day/night! <3 :D  
> -Des


End file.
